Anthony Zottola Masterminds His Father’s “Gruesome” Execution
Prominent Bronx businessman Sylvester Zottola, 71, was gunned down while ordering coffee at a local McDonald’s drive-thru on October 4, 2018.
“This was a targeted hit,” Jarrett J. Ferentino, a retired prosecutor, said in the “Death in the Drive-Through” episode of New York Homicide, which airs new episodes on Saturdays at 9/8c p.m. on Oxygen.
“Sylvester Zottola was trapped, like an animal, cornered and surrounded and repeatedly shot,” Ferentino added.
The gunman fired through the passenger-side window. “It was a gruesome sight,” said former New York City Police Department Homicide Detective Sean Butler. “There was blood everywhere.”
Zottola’s slaying wasn’t a complete surprise to members of the NYPD. He’d faced several earlier death threats.
Who was Sylvester Zottola?
Zottola, a widow, lived alone in a small house in the upscale Bronx neighborhood of Locust Point. Nearby, he’d built a compound on the water for his adult children — Salvatore, Anthony, and Deborah.
“Family came first to him,” said Lindsay Gerdes, former Assistant U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of New York.
But Zottola was known as kind and generous around the city. He was called “the mayor of Locust Point,” said Butler.
“He had that granddad look,” said John Soto, a now-retired NYPD homicide detective. “He had that granddad attitude, almost like Santa Claus without the beard.”
Zottola had amassed a $40 million fortune through residential real estate and Joker Poker gambling machines, which he placed in restaurants and social clubs, according to Ferentino.
His son Salvatore managed the gaming venture. Anthony helped out in the real estate business.
Sylvester Zottola’s ties to organized crime
Detectives initially considered that Zottola’s murder could have a mob tie. Gambling machines are the kind of business that draw the Mafia’s attention. It was no secret that Zottola was an associate of the Bonanno crime family.
Detectives formed a task force with the FBI to determine if Zottola had been whacked by the mob. But a thorough investigation “dispelled any notion that any of the five families were involved with the murder,” Butler told New York Homicide.
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Detectives focus on previous death threats
Detectives looked closer at the previous death threats against Zottola. On September 8, 2017, an unidentified young male approached Zottola on the sidewalk and asked about a job opening. He then beat the elderly man up and left him with a broken rib.
On November 26, 2017, Zottola reported to police that a group of masked men tried to abduct him while he was in his car. Zottola was able to drive away.
On December 27, 2017, Zottola was brutally attacked in his home by men who tied him up and demanded money. Before leaving, “they ended up essentially slicing his throat,” said Soto.
Zottola survived because his screams for help were heard by a neighbor who called 911. Detectives found no forced entry and a mystery concerning home-security footage.
“We were told that the video either wasn’t working or was stolen by the perpetrators,” said Franz Ebertz, a now-retired NYPD detective.
Zottola went into hiding and only his inner circle knew of his whereabouts. “The family was terrified,” said Gerdes. “They had young children of their own, and they were just constantly looking over their shoulders.”
On June 12, 2018, Zottola was no longer in hiding. An assailant tried to shoot him outside his home, but the gun jammed. On July 11, Zottola’s son Salvatore was ambushed and shot and narrowly survived.
Sylvester Zottola’s car yields a key clue
A day after Zottola’s murder, detectives found a GPS tracking device in a wheel well of Zottola’s car. The tracker showed that Zottola had been targeted — and that the murder was a coordinated effort.
“Prior to when this tracking device was found, we were just scratching our heads and wondering why are they able to find Mr. Zottola all the time,” said NYPD Detective Jose Ortiz.
Detectives focused on the SIM card in the tracker to identify who’d placed the device. On October 11, 2018, two days after Zottola’s funeral, the GPS tracker information came in.
The GPS data revealed that the tracker had been activated two days before the brutal homicide. That information led detectives to Topping Ave. in the Bronx.
“Detectives got video of individuals holding the tracking device and putting it on a car,” Gerdes said. “It appeared to me that those individuals were testing out the tracker.”
Himen Ross and Bushawn Shelton become suspects
The video revealed two men who were known to police — Himen Ross and Bushawn Shelton, who worked as a recruiter but was also a high-ranking member of the Bloods street gang.
Police lacked evidence to arrest the men because the surveillance footage was not of Zottola’s vehicle. Days later, detectives caught a break thanks to another Bloods associate.
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He told detectives that he was the attempted shooter in the June attack on Zottola. “He knows he had something to do with this plot, and he doesn’t want to have any part of an indictment or a conspiracy… so he comes forward and he goes to the police,” journalist Mary Murphy told New York Homicide.
In return for a reduced sentence, the witness offered details about his role in the plot to kill Zottola on June 12. He said he was promised $10,000 and introduced to Shelton and Ross.
“He was provided with a schedule, keys, security codes, all kinds of information, directing him to Mr. Zottola,” Ferentino said.
Anthony Zottola the brains behind murder plot against his dad
Shelton and Ross were arrested and their residences were searched. A cell phone found at Shelton’s home contained text messages that led to the shocking mastermind of the cruel murder — Anthony Zottola, the victim’s son.
“It was all Anthony feeding that information to Bushawn, and then Bushawn feeding it to the individuals acting on it,” said Ortiz.
Shelton’s text messages also revealed that in late September of 2018, he hired Ross to pull the trigger in the attack at the McDonald’s, according to New York Homicide.
“Moments after Sylvester Zottola was gunned down, Shelton called Anthony and told him the deed was done,” said Robert K. Boyce, a former NYPD Chief of Detectives who now hosts New York Homicide. “Then he texted him, ‘Can we party today or tomorrow?’”
Butler said, “I think the motive behind Anthony is just pure greed.”
Anthony Zottola arrested for his father’s murder
Shelton and eight co-conspirators were charged in connection to the attacks on the Zottola family. Anthony was charged with murder-for-hire on June 17, 2019.
In August of 2022, Shelton pleaded guilty to murder for hire. He and Ross were sentenced to 37 years in prison. Anthony was sentenced to life in prison, plus 112 years. That additional time was the combined ages of his father and brother.
“What we were seeing in this case was just a level of greed and depravity that I had never seen before,” Gerdes said.
To learn more about the case, watch the “Death in the Drive-Through” episode of New York Homicide, which airs new episodes on Saturdays at 9/8c p.m. on Oxygen.
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